Dying Bonsai - Need Help!!!

Dying Bonsai - Need Help!!!

I need help with my indoor bonsai. It is a Japan Pepper Zanthoxylum Piperitum and it has been really weird, recently. I think it is dying.

I put some pictures attached to help.

The leaves are looking droopy and they are dropping off.

We tried to put some water and bonsai food a couple of days ago and it doesn’t seen to be helping. To be honest, I think the bonsai looks worse than before. We read some comments about how to look after it and in one of this comments someone said about make some holes on the ground to help the roots breathe. The soil now is moist, but the leaves are even paler and droopier.

Re: Dying Bonsai - Need Help!!!

Sun Feb 19, 2017 9:30 pm

You show it just sitting on a chair, but maybe that's just where you put it to take its picture? How much light has it been getting? Japanese pepper needs a lot of light. That could be a good south facing window sill or it could be supplemental lighting:

The commonest causes of bonsai death are not enough light and too much water. Here's some bonsai growing tips including how to water bonsai:

Re: Dying Bonsai - Need Help!!!

Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:34 am

The soil does not look like bonsai soil either. Most bonsai are really outdoor plants and need to have good light and spend as much time outdoors as is possible. Bonsai are also stressed plants so you have to be extra diligent in watering and feeding the plant.

I can't tell what kind of tree that is, but the soil does not look good either. I would repot the plant. When you repot try to see without breaking too many roots if the roots are healthy or rotting. If it is rotting, you will have to carefully cut away what is dead. if it is still healthy and then repot in a deeper nursery pot so the roots can recover in good potting soil and give it MG water soluble 1/4 strength every week. Try to give it as much light ast possible and harden it off to the outside as soon as possible if it recovers. You can cut off dead wood.

If the plant recovers then it will need to be retrained and root pruned to fit into a smaller pot again. Bonsai soil is akadama (more like fine gravel) and not much dirt. Since roots are confined, trimmed and in a pot, they are dependent on you to give it the light, water, and nutrients it needs. Bonsai need to be repotted anywhere from every 6 months to a couple of years depending on the plant. But, they need regular feeding and each plant needs to have adequate light. I have had a few plants, but I choose the easy ones and where I live they can stay outside all year so I actually have an easier time than if I were trying to keep one alive inside a house. The biggest problem I have with some of the bonsai have been their penchant for escaping and trying to root in the ground. I don't have any bonsai now, I have a potential starter but it is still young yet and in the nursery pot. I am letting it grow out a bit before working it. I don't have a lot of extra time, a lot of weeds, and other plants and things to keep me busy right now.

Re: Dying Bonsai - Need Help!!!

Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:15 pm

Keep us posted how it goes. You haven't told us where you are located.

You understand that you can't just take a tree that has been indoors for months and plop it outdoors in the sun, especially if it is cold, windy etc. Trees do benefit from being outdoors in warm season, but they need to be hardened off to it, that is gradually exposed. Put it in a protected spot, away from direct sun and wind and only gradually move it out. And that is if the outdoor temps are warm enough for it. It is hardy to zone 6, once it is hardened to it.